I hope it's £500, but I don't think there's any way this set is going to flop - even if they price it at £700-£800
What you have to remember is it is hands down the most anticipated Star Wars set (and arguably the most anticipated Lego set) of all time.
The amount of hype and media coverage this set is going to get will be unprecedented. I can imagine the TV/online/newspaper/magazine "Christmas toy" specials now. It will be at the top of every one of their "must have ultimate gift" lists
I think that will be enough to take it from collectors item territory to a top flight christmas / birthday present for a reasonably wealthy family.
In any case, I'll be buying one day 1 and hope it does well as it increases the chances of getting more complex sets in the future

Yep - there was a nice analysis of the "pattern" for City themed train sets posted on page 1 of this thread.
Seems to make sense, and based on that pattern there should be a new freight train, passenger train and possibly station next year

Yep - the fantastic MOCs that people come up with on here and elsewhere definitely help keep me interested.
I also managed to pickup the original Metroliner recently at a reasonable price which has helped soften the blow :)
But this one did reach 10k and still didn't get made...
I think it boils down to mass market appeal - clearly Ship in a Bottle and Voltron will sell more. This just seemed like a great (missed) opportunity to throw train fans a bone.
Agree on modulars btw - great to see so many of those doing well on Ideas - and although it's not technically a modular, the Old Fishing Store is one of my most anticipated sets

I would love a modular train station too - something ideally you could mirror build to get a "grand central" train station.
I also think this would have great potential for a suitable train tie in given we are due a couple of new train sets next year.
Given the 1930s setting of the modular building line- the ideal would be an Orient Express type steam train with pullman cars or an early Art Deco style diesel electric passenger train.

Surprised the heavy haul train is retiring earlier than the blue cargo train (60052).
Anyhow, lots of people now expect new sets to arrive in 2018. It seems to fit the pattern
@Duq provided a good summary of that pattern on page 1 of this thread

I don't think the metroliner is coming back either - it would just be a very welcome surprise if it did.
The examples you posted would all make an interesting change of pace from the recent hi-speed passenger trains we've been getting.
Personally, I'd love it if they made a docklands light railway train
DLR B07 Stock at Poplar by bowroaduk, on Flickr
Or a classic NY subway train
R-143 L train leaving Broadway Junction and heading towards Rockaway Boulevard by yankeesmann1918, on Flickr

Much as I hate to admit it - it's highly unlikely that Lego monorail's ever coming back :(
Which is a shame, because it's great for adding a bit of retro futuristic glam and density to any burgeoning Lego city's transit system

With that red stripe it looks a bit like an ICE train:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercity-Express#
I know the buildings in these promo shots are usually one-offs, but does anyone know how often the vehicles end up as real sets?
Wasn't there a cargo lift helicopter a few years back that ended up as a city set?

Hi - Welcome to the forum.
There's two approaches that most people use to these kinds of mods. Some take the base set and start playing around with physical bricks straight away. Others prefer to model the section/whole set in LDD (Lego Digital Designer) and make adjustments there.
In terms of the specific mod you want to carry out - the search function on this forum is useful for finding similar mods for inspiration.
This thread seems to cover some of the stuff you want to do:

We should be getting the results of the first 2017 Ideas review soon.
I really hope the Vintage Tram makes it:
It's not strictly a train I know, but for me It would rescue an otherwise barren year for official train sets